🇺🇸🚀MISSION TO MARS🚀🇺🇸

REASONS WHY WE WANT TO EXPLORE ON MARS

• One reason we decided on this planet is because we can't live on the planets that have gaseous surface.
• To add on Mercury has to many X-Rays and UV radiation.
• The remaining planet, Venus is not suitable because the atmospheric pressure is enough to crush a person.
• We would like to explore Mars because we want to study if Mars can support life.
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REASONS WHY WE WANT TO EXPLORE ON MARS

• Mars is a rocky planet, that has an atmosphere thinner than Earth's, it has two small moons, with an average temperature of -220 degrees F to 68 degrees F, it's called the red planet because the surface appears red because of iron and rust covered rocks, and it's almost half the size of Earth.

THE ITEMS THAT WE DECIDED WERE IMPORTANT FOR OUR MISSION TO MARS

• Nose
• Wings
• Lifters
• Engine
• Booster
• Air tanks
• Space suits
• Rover
• Fin
• Door
• Food and drinks
• Storage

PARACHUTES

• You can drop your load gently to the ground.
• If you go flying off your spacecraft or a planet you can use your parachute to catch you.
• The parts of the parachute are the canopy, the suspension lines, and the load.
• A parachute works by opening as it is dropped and provides air resistance so it's load is dropped gently to the ground.

PARACHUTE TEST 1

• Independent Variable: the size of the canopy, the 3 sizes were large, medium, and small.
• Our group tested the smallest canopy. Our times were 2.38, 2, and 2.21 seconds. Our average time was 2.21 seconds.

PARACHUTE TEST 2

• Independent Variable: the size of the suspension lines, the 3 sizes were 7 in. lines, 13 in. lines, and 21 in. lines.
• Our group tested the 7 in. suspension lines and our times were 2.13, 2.18, and 2.66 seconds. Our average time was 2.32 seconds.

Parachute Test 3

• Independent Variable: the different materials, the 3 materials were fabric, paper, and plastic.
• Our group tested the paper canopy. Our times were 2.38, 2.29, and 2.71 seconds. That made our average time 2.46 seconds.

CONTROLLED VARIABLE FOR EACH PARACHUTE

• Our controlled variable was the size of bulldog clip/load which was small.

FINAL PARACHUTE

• Parachute: a large, plastic canopy with 13 in. suspension lines and a small load/bulldog clip.
• Results: the parachute packing score was 130, the distance of the drop was 9ft. 3in., the time for each test was 4.05, 2.36, and 4.56 seconds the average of that was 3.65 seconds, and the average drop speed of the parachute was 3ft. per second.
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FINAL PARACHUTE

• The data we used to make our parachute was that the large canopy would give more air resistance, the plastic stops the air the most, the 13 in. suspension lines would work in place of the large ones because they had the second best time and our parachute packing score couldn't be above 150, and we used a small load/bulldog clip because we knew from our schema that a lighter load would allow the parachute to gently float to the ground.

IF I COULD BUILD ANOTHER PARACHUTE WHAT VARIABLES WOULD I USE

• A large canopy because it would provide the most air resistance.
• 21 in. suspension lines because they had the best performance and I think that these suspension lines hold the load away from the canopy so the air can push against it.
• I would make the canopy out of plastic because it traps the air better than any of the other materials
• Finally I would use a small or medium size load because the medium load would balance the parachute but the small one would make it so it doesn't fall too fast.

During our Mission to Mars project I learned many things about parachutes, rockets, and the planets. When we started our project we researched about the planets in our solar system. We took notes on what we learned and decided that Mars would be the best planet to live on. We decided on this because Mars had a good atmosphere, it was a good distance away from the Sun, it is a good size, and all of the other planets have some sort of problem. These problems are that we can't walk or land on the gas planets, Mercury is exposed to too many UV and X-Rays, and the atmospheric pressure on Venus is enough to crush a person.
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After this we moved on to designing a rocket that could land on Mars and deciding on what items were important to take to Mars. After doing this we learned about different kinds of variables which are independent, controlled, and dependent. To begin our parachute projects we talked about air and how it can take up space. Mrs. French proved this when she blew up a balloon to show that the air took up the space inside of it. We experimented with air some more than moved on to our parachutes. We experimented with different independent variables and then made our own parachute based off what we learned. What did you learn during our Mission to Mars project?